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NEW YORK -- In one
classroom, a group of preschool teachers squatted on the floor,
pretending to be cave-dwelling hunter-gatherers. Next door, another
group ended a raucous musical game by placing their tambourines and
drums atop their heads.

Silly
business, to be sure, but part of an agenda of utmost seriousness: To
spread the word that America's children need more time for freewheeling
play at home and in their schools.

"We're
all sad, and we're a little worried. We're sad about something missing
in childhood," psychologist and author Michael Thompson told 900 early
childhood educators, from 22 states, packed into an auditorium recently.

"We have to fight back," he said. "We're going to fight for play."

After
his keynote speech during the 92nd Street Y Wonderplay Early Childhood
Conference: The Importance of Play, Imagination and Creative Thinking,
the teachers dispersed into workshops, some lighthearted, some
scholarly -- but all supporting the case that creative, spontaneous
play is vital and endangered.

It's
not a brand-new cause -- two years ago it was endorsed by the American
Academy of Pediatrics. But social changes and new demands on kids'
spare time confront free-play advocates with an ever-moving target.

Among
the speakers was Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a Temple University psychologist
who contends that lack of play in early childhood education "could be
the next global warming."

Without
ample opportunity for play that fosters innovation and creative
thinking, America's children will be at a disadvantage in the global
economy.

"Play equals learning," she said. "For too long we have divorced the two."

Some
of the factors behind diminished play time have been evolving for
decades; others are more recent. Together, they have resulted in eight
to 12 fewer hours of free play time per week for the average American
child since the 1980s, experts say.

Among the key factors that Thompson cites:

Parents'
reluctance to let their kids play outside on their own, for fear of
abduction or injury, and the companion trend of scheduling lessons,
supervised sports and other structured activities that consume many of
a child's non-school hours.

More hours per week spent by kids watching TV, playing video games, using the Internet, communicating on cell phones.

Shortening
or eliminating recess at many schools -- a trend so pronounced that the
National PTA has launched a "Rescuing Recess" campaign.

More
emphasis on formal learning in preschool, more homework for elementary
school students and more pressure from parents to gain academic skills.

"Parents
are more self-conscious and competitive than in the past," Thompson
said. "They're pushing their kids to excel. Free play loses out."

The
consequences are potentially dire, Thompson says. He contends that
diminished time to play freely with other children is producing a
generation of socially inept young people and is a factor behind high
rates of youth obesity, anxiety, attention-deficit disorder and
depression.

Thompson
said organized sports don't necessarily breed creativity and can lead
to burnout for good young athletes and frustration for the less skilled.

Vivian
Paley, a former kindergarten teacher at the University of Chicago
Laboratory Schools and now an author and consultant, says the most
vital form of play for young children involves fantasy and role-playing
with their peers.

"They're inventing abstract thinking, before the world tells them what to think," Paley said in her speech to the conference.

She
worries that preschools, in the drive to prepare students for the
academic challenges ahead, are reducing the opportunity for group
fantasy play -- and thus reducing children's chances to learn about
fairness, kindness and other social interactions.

"This
very activity is being dismantled in our schools to make room for early
phonics. Preschoolers are being asked to practice being first-graders,"
Paley said.